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Bethlehem light in the Presidential Palace

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On 11th December 2010 about 17.30 pm Slovak scouts brought Bethlehem light into the Presidential Palace in Bratislava. Every year the office of the President becomes the first place where the flame from the Church of the Nativity in the Holy Land scouts are handing over. This year the lamp with a little flashing light took First Lady of Slovakia Mrs. Silvia Gašparovičová. "With the Bethlehem light you brought the message of faith, love and understanding among people. I wish you all merry Christmas and a joyous time of Advent till Christmas with this flame in our homes. We will spread the light in our families, among friends and acquaintances."

Bethlehem light in the Presidential Palace

Representatives of the Slovak Scouting Chieftainship got the Bethlehem light at a festive ecumenical celebration in the church Neuerdberg in Vienna and then brought it to Slovakia, directly to the Presidential Palace. Scouts will spread the flame to towns and villages, churches and homes or into social care homes. "Transmission to the public is going to happen mostly during the next weekend, there will be a train chain organized. In several places, at every station where the train stops, the light will be fired," said Chief of the Slovak Scouting Ľubomír Ondrušek.

The modern history of the Bethlehem light began in 1986 in the neighboring Austria. However, it wheren´t the scouts who spread the light already for years around the world, but the creators of a Christmas television event in the town of Linz, who sought to make special the deals to help disabled children.

Through scouts the flame first got to Slovakia during the Christmas in 1990. Since then, this tradition has spread from Austria across Europe. Slovak scouts spread it all over Slovakia into homes, churches or hospitals. Since 19 years they have brought the light to the highest inhabited place in Slovakia – to Lomnický štít in the High Tatras. The Bethlehem light will Slovak scouts forward to the Polish scout in Lysá Poľana, the ligt will further go to Russia.
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© 2005 Office of the President of the Slovak Republic.